Iraq problem dominates touchy Arab League session

March 02, 2003|By Christine Spolar, Tribune foreign correspondent.

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — Arab leaders, meeting in an emergency session held in anticipation of possible military strikes against Iraq, on Saturday issued a broad statement against possible war in Iraq that avoided the most apparent split in their ranks--the fact that thousands of U.S. forces are deployed in the region and more are on the way.

The only leader who raised the issue of troops on Arab soil, specifically in Saudi Arabia, was Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. His jibe promptly sparked an angry walkout by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and the entire Saudi delegation, according to delegates among the 22-member Arab League.

The Saudis were cajoled back into the meeting 15 minutes later by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian leader Bashar Assad, according to witnesses at the summit at Sharm El Sheikh, a resort town along the Red Sea.

Despite the blowup, the Arab leaders managed to pull together a unanimous declaration calling for the "complete rejection of any aggression on Iraq."

The rancor between Libya and Saudi Arabia, however, was only one example of sharp divisions evident Saturday within the often-fractious Arab League, as the United Arab Emirates floated a proposal to call for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The proposal was the first open attempt by an Arab country to discuss Hussein's possible exile as a way to avert the outbreak of fighting.

But Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa downplayed the plan, saying it was not seriously considered by the 22-member organization. The summit, despite the apparent rancor and differences, produced a definitive statement "to reaffirm the Arab attitude: We are not supportive of war," he said.

The summit statement called on Baghdad to abide by United Nations demands to surrender weapons of mass destruction and illegal missiles. It also urged that UN weapons inspectors be given more time to search for the banned arms.

Some parts of the statement, however, outlined the delicate predicament that some of the Arab countries face in the run-up to war.

The Arab League's declaration stressed that Arab nations should refrain from carrying out any military action against Iraq. The statement did not, however, say Arab states with U.S. forces on their soil should demand that no attack be launched from their territory.

Thousands of U.S. troops have been based in Saudi Arabia since the 1991 Persian Gulf war, a source of controversy in the conservative kingdom, home to several of Islam's most holiest sites.

In the past few months, tens of thousands of U.S. troops have deployed in the region, largely Kuwait and Qatar, ahead of a possible war.

The summit's unanimous declaration was undercut by the first outspoken attempt by an Arab country to challenge support for Hussein.

The United Arab Emirates floated a single-page proposal that demanded Iraqi leaders, with the promise of general amnesty, "surrender power and leave the country" in a matter of weeks.

Support for the idea appeared so slim, however, that Emirates representatives never presented it to the Arab League, according to some delegates. The proposal was circulated publicly for the first time Saturday among the hundreds of reporters covering the meeting.

Details were sketchy but, according to some delegates, the Emirates delegates broached the proposal with the Kuwait and Saudi delegation but did not ask the Arab League for an open discussion.

Emirates Information Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, however, told reporters that the proposal was not seriously considered because the "Arab League, unfortunately, doesn't have the courage to discuss it."

Earlier in the day, the blowup between Gadhafi and Prince Abdullah was captured for a few moments during a live international broadcast of the summit. However, the signal was abruptly interrupted, and the final hours of the gathering wound down in closed session, with no cameras allowed to film inside the meeting hall.